Door closing device



June 2, 1953 w. H. CLEWELL DOOR CLOSING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 8, 1949 ATTORNEY Patented June 2, 1953 PATENT fifFFl- CE DD RCLOSING DEVICE -Williwm-:H. Glewekl, Berwick, Pa., assignor to :AmenicanCar :and FoundryGompany, "New I Em'k NL Y., :a roorporation of .NewJersey Application March 8, 1949,"Serial No.-8'0;187

(Cl. 2r14-?fi-3) G1aims.

i This invention relates to doorwclosinedevices in generalandf'inparticular to such devices inbottom type having varying lengthandweight doors.

Mine-cars or the drop-bottom type ordinarily tended to"-be=used -withmine cars-of the-drop I havethe doors interengagingt'and with thersarmostisdoor held in closed positionwby :a latch. Afterithetcarsfhave. been :dumped in :a :bin the doors :are hanging verticallyand must be :closed; Devicesv for accomplishing this closing :haveibeenused shut rareatound-aunsatisfactory'wvhere oars having varying :lengthand weight :of-doors :must

operate over thesame closing device. In certain large capacity-dropbottom scars Flt has fbeentiound necessary to provide :doors :of varyinglength and weight iinathe same .car in order to .obtain proper loaddistribution and to "avoid "necessary roar v, structuralobstructions. Inthe closing of-vinterf engaging-drop bottom :doors each precedingiioor jmust *he'ldin ;a' raised positionslightly beyond its z normal positionuntil the following door has been raised toza :p'osition "placing "apartthereof beneath the zpreeeding'zdoor. The door closing devicesnnust "bemade so that "they will "lower permitareturn =of the wars :with doors\closed rover the :closing device without contaotingzthewsame. It is-ran:object, therefore, :of the rpresent inventron-to. providea -;door:olosimg device *wliioh will raise and lower automatically and will be.3136- tained in itstflilly raised tposition sorlong :as anydoorsirequiring:closing are in contact-therewith.

:A'iurtlier object of "the inventionzis thes pronis'ionofadoorxclosmgnevice diavmgzarweight operated :portion rfor docking-thedevice :in a raised position. 1

i and :other objects of the invention will be apparent toepersonsskilled 'inthe artzfromztarstudy of the following description andaccompanying drawings, :in'which Fig. :1 is :an :elevational View iofthe-".devioe with parts in :section 'to better *disclose *theconstrnction;

:Ei'g. 2v in .rajxplanwiew of :thedmproved-sdevice; I

-z A and a ramp portion B which includes a m'ovable or WeightHactua'tedportion 16. The base portionuh is preferably made of plate welded"together to provide a supporting plate '2 "adapted to be secured to asupporting structure, such (as the framing of the bin into which themine-cars will :dump their lading. Vertically extending plates- 4 :arepreferably welded :to the base plate 12 and in'turn have welded "thereto:"inolined :channels having the flanges 6 directed upwardly and the webs8 formingrunways for rollers 1-0 :of the rampmemberB.

The rollers "I 0 support axles l2 extending-intodownwardlyidirectedsides M and sti'fieningsmemhers 1 B. The-side membersM overlap thesides Of'ithibZSG member A and are guided therebyarid atthe sometime: protect the Ebase member with its runways '(from becomingclogged with dading. Atop plate i8 'is welded or otherwise secured tothe side :plates :Hi and suitably braced as *at 2'0 against--deflection. The :rear edges of plates: 14 and :I8 are curved as at:22, while the forward portion oi-plates M is similarly curveddownwardly rastat '24. Extension pieces 2 6 I are "Welded or otherwisesecured to the forward :lower {edges of'iplates F4 and are connected.by:a top plate :28; these :portions together forming-what-may be termed:a nose portion 'N, which will. be the :first portion of the nan'nptocontact the doors during thewlosing thereof.

interposed between the rear edge of plate .28 and "the forward edge :of:plate 16 is a curved weight-iaetuated plate 30 which forms the doorcontacting portiono'fthe weight-actuatedrmechanism :6 previouslyreferred-Etc. This weightactuated pl-ate 30 is curved in accordance withand :overlaps :the forward edge of the side rpieces i=4 so that when the"plate is in its lowered position itwvill 'be supported on the edges ofthe side pieces as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The plate 3n zmay-ibesuitably braced :as :at 3-2 {and has welded or otherwise :attachedthereto arms 3.4 pivotedes at K3613013118=I10S9 portion N. Gentra-lly ofthe under side :of plate 30 lu-gswall are provided on which may :be:pivotally mounted a link 40, the lower end :OfAWhiCh is pivotally.connectedfto the ends'oftarms 42 note. ibell crank member. The bellorank member isvpivotally mountedona shaft 44 supported in :brackets 46welded or otherwise secured to the ramp B. ,Rigidly attached 130213116armsfl :is a downwardly extending arm '48 "to which may be connecteda:spring l50-anchored to the side pieces M by a cross zbarfiZ. The spring50 is a tension spring :and will ioonstantly tend to hold :the plate f30 in the raised position, snehuas shown in Fig. 1. Pivotally mounted onshaft 44 between the arms 42 is a pawl 54 having a hooked portionadapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet 56 carried between andnon-rotatably secured to the spaced rollers of the forward set ofrollers. The pawl 54 is constantly urged toward the ratchet by means ofa spring 58 bearing on the pawl and on arms 42. The teeth of the ratchetas plainly shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5 are so shaped that the ratchet mayrotate freely in a counterclockwise direction but will be prevented fromrotation in a clockwise direction by the pawl 54 whenever the plate 30is in the lowered position.

In the form shown in Fig. 6 the tension spring 50 and downwardlyextending arm 48 may be eliminated and a compression spring 60substituted, which spring will be interposed between plate 30 and apocket formed by bracing members 52 welded or otherwise secured to theforward portion of side pieces [4.

In operation it will be seen that whenever a hanging door of a car suchas shown in Pancake Patent 2,374,155 and moving in the direction of thearrow M of Fig. l strikes the nose portion N, the entire ramp member B-will be moved to the left causing rollers H) to roll up along theinclined runways 8 to the position shown in Fig. 5. As the car movementcontinues and during the raising of the ramp member, the door D willwipe along the nose portion and along plate 30 depressing the same tothe full line position of Fig. 5 and through spring 58 forcing-the pawl54 into engagement with the teeth of ratchet 56. In so long as anyportion of the doors rests upon the plate 30, the pawl 54 will be heldin position contacting the ratchet teeth and preventing clockwiserotation of the rollers, thereby preventing return of the ramp to: itslowered position. Since the doors of the car interengage in their closedposition, the second door will have contacted the nose portion beforethe first door has slid off of the plate 30, accordingly the ramp willbe held in its raised position until all doors of the car have beenfully closed. As soon as the last door has been raised and has moved offof plate 30, this plate will return to its raised position due to eithertension spring 50 or compression spring 60 and the ramp is then free tomove toward the right and into its lowered position. In cases where theopen doors of the car are swinging and the speed of the car is such thatthe doors do not strike the nose portion N prior to contacting plate 30,the ramp can still be moved to the raised position since the pawl 54will permit counterclock- I wise rotation of the ratchet 56 through theyielding action of spring 58. Due to the positive locking of the ramp inits raised position a steeper incline on runways 8 may be used thanheretofore possible, accordingly a greater lift of the ramp can beobtained without danger of the ramp failing to function through fallingto a lowered runways, rollers supported on said runways for rollingmovement therealong, a ramp supported by said rollers and movabletherewith from a lowered to a raised position by doors dragging alongthe top surface of the ramp, means normally projecting above the topsurface of the ramp, and locking means connected to and operated by saidprojecting means to lock said rollers and ramp in raised door closingposition when a door is hearing on said projecting means.

2. In a door closing device, upwardly inclined runways, rollerssupported on said runways for rolling movement therealong, a rampsupported by said rollers and movable therewith from a lo ered to araised position by doors dragging along the top surface'of the ramp, aportion of the top surface of said ramp being resiliently urged upwardlyabove'the adjacent top surfaces of the ramp, and means connected to saidportion and operated thereby to lock said ramp in a raised door closingposition by the weight of a door resting on said portion.

3. In a door closing device, upwardly inclined runways, rollerssupported on said runways for rolling movement therealong, a rampsupported by said rollers and movable therewith from a lowered to araised position by doors dragging along the top surface of the ramp,projecting means normally projecting above the top surface of the ramp,and locking means connected toand operated by said projecting means tolock said rollers and ramp in raised door closing position when a dooris hearing on said projecting means, said locking means including aratchet and pawl device.

4. In a door closing device, upwardly inclined runways, rollerssupported on said runways for rolling movement therealong, a rampsupported by said rollers and movable therewith from alow ered to araised position by doors dragging along the top surface of the ramp, aplate member carried by said ramp and normally, projecting above theadjacent top surfaces of the ramp, a ratchet wheel secured to -one ofsaid rollers, a pawl carried by said ramp and normally out of engage-'ment with said ratchet, and linkage connected to said plate member andoperatively connected to said pawl to urge the same into engagement withsaid ratchet upon downward movement of said plate member relative tosaid ramp top surface.

5. In a door closing device, upwardly inclinedrunways,"antifrictiondevices supported on said runways for movement therealong, a ramp membersupported by said antifriction devices and movable therewith from alowered to a raised doorclosing position, and means carried by theforward portion of said ramp member and operable by the weight of a doorto lock said ramp member in raised position.

6. In a door closing device, upwardly inclined runways, antifrictiondevices supported on said runways for movement therealong, a ramp mem-'ber supported by said antifriction devices and movable therewith from alowered to a raised door closing position, and means carried by theforward portion of said ramp member and operable by the weightof a doorto lock said ramp member in raised position, said means including aplate portion resiliently urged upwardly with respect to the remainderof the Iramp member.

'7. In a door'closing device, upwardly inclined runways, antifrictiondevices supported on said runways for movement therealong, a ramp membersupported by said antifriction devices and movable therewith from alowered to a raiseddoor closing position, and means carried by theforward portion of said ramp member and operable by the weight of a doorto lock said ramp member is raised position, said means including a pawland ratchet device preventing rotation of the antifriction devices whenin locked position.

8. In a door closing device, upwardly inclined runways, antifrictiondevices supported on said runways for movement therealong, a ramp membersupported by said antifriction devices and movable therewith from alowered to a raised door closing position, and means carried by theforward portion of said ramp member and operable by the weight of a doorto lock said ramp member in'raised position, said means comprising aplate portion resiliently urged upwardly with respect to the remainderof the ramp member and connected to a pawl and ratchet device preventingrotation of the antifriction devices when said plate portion is forceddownwardly relative to the remainder of the ramp member.

9. In a device for closing a car door, a base member having an upwardlyinclined runway secured thereto, a roller supported on said inclinedrunway forrolling movement therealong, a ramp including a top plate,said ramp being supported on said roller and movable therewith from aloweifed to a raised position by a door dragging along the top plate ofthe ramp, said top plate including a movable section adapted formovement from the plane of the top of the adjacent plate to a positionabove the top surface of the plate, means normally urging said movablesection to its upper position, and a member supported by the rampstructure and movable by depression of said movable top plate sectionfor locking association with said roller.

' 10. The structure of claim 9 characterized in References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Pancake Apr. 17,1945 Number

